It’s the beginning of June, and we currently have two VERY proud and happy mamas out in our chicken yard. Half a dozen adorable baby chicks follow behind them, earnestly (and comically!) doing their very best to scratch and hunt for bugs, as much like grown up chickens as they possibly can.

Watching mother hens with their baby chicks is one of the farmyard highlights of the year, as far as I’m concerned, and I can’t imagine a springtime without at least one broody hen hatching out a clutch of chicks.

Letting a broody hen sit on eggs doesn’t always turn out perfectly, though, and over the last few years I’ve learned a lot about how to help set up my broody hens for a fuss-free incubation time, and for hatching and raising a healthy clutch of chicks. Here’s what I do when I have a broody hen, and the setup that works well for my flock:

Tips for hatching chicks with a broody hen

1. Make sure her nest is secure, and safe for newly-hatched chicks

Some folks swear by putting their broody hens in special enclosed brooding boxes, or crates, during the three weeks that they’re sitting on their eggs. They get their own food and water and aren’t allowed to leave the brooding box until after the eggs hatch. It works for some hens, but my girls go absolutely nuts if they’re separated from the flock in any way like this.

In my experience, it has seemed very important to the happiness of my broody hens, that they be allowed to sit a nest that’s right in the regular bay of nesting boxes. They can see everything going on, and they get to socialize with the other hens as they use the nesting area. Depression or anxiety have been the apparent result, each time I have attempted to transition a broody hen to a “private suite” – even when it’s in full view of all the happenings of the coop.

Instead, I’ve resigned myself to letting my broody hens choose whatever nest they want in the regular bay of nesting boxes, which are 3 feet off the floor of the barn. I make sure the nest she’s chosen is good and clean, with plenty of fresh straw. Our nesting boxes all have a 5″ lip on them, so newly-hatched chicks can’t easily tumble out. (If they didn’t have a deep lip like that, I’d definitely want to create one, at least temporarily.)

2. Label her nesting box, if you’re not the only one collecting eggs

Once my broody hen has committed to a nest, and I’ve made sure it’s specially clean and cushy, I put her name on the front of her nesting box. I want to make sure nobody accidentally collects her eggs, if I’m not the one gathering them!

3. Mark the eggs she’s sitting on

Since I let my broody hens choose a nest that’s right in the midst of all the other nesting boxes, it’s easy to end up with a few newly-laid eggs in the next each day. In fact, I find that my girls often take their daily break from the nest while letting another hen “babysit” – laying an egg of their own in with the ones being incubated.

Once I decide that I’m going to let a hen sit, I usually give her 8 or 9 eggs to sit on. It’s a number that works well for my petite Icelandic girls, and seems to result in a good hatch rate.

Then I mark each egg very clearly, so it’s easy to see when peeking under her, which eggs are marked and which aren’t. When I’m collecting eggs each day, I bring her a special little treat, take a look under her, and pull any eggs that aren’t marked.

4. Take note of the day she starts sitting

So many times, I’ve forgotten to do this, and I end up wracking my brain trying to figure out exactly when I should expect the chicks to start hatching. If you immediately make a note on the calendar, when you let your hen start sitting on a clutch of eggs, you won’t have to wonder when to expect the sound of cheeping. 21 days later, there should be hatching going on!

5. Candle the eggs around day 10

About halfway through incubation – usually around day 10, I like to candle the eggs, so I can toss any that aren’t viable. I always candle at night, and find that it seems to trouble my hens least if I quickly steal all of the broody hen’s eggs, and give her some dummies to sit on while I candle them. I then whisk the eggs up the house and do my candling there – I find it easier than keeping track of eggs, while the poor hen is trying to steal them back! I toss any that aren’t viable, and put the others all right back under mama hen.

6. Check in frequently once the eggs start hatching

With only rare exceptions, my broody hens have made great mothers, and have handled hatch day like champs. It is possible however, especially with first-time mamas, for things to go badly on hatch day. I’ve known hens from other breeds that have pecked the hatching chicks to death, which is just heartbreaking. Even this year, one of my first-time Icelandic hens got freaked out and abandoned her nest as soon as her eggs started pipping and peeping.

Fortunately, I had another broody hen that desperately wanted to sit on eggs, but I hadn’t yet let her keep any. She was just sitting there wistfully, on an empty nest. I was able to slide the abandoned eggs right under her. She hatched those eggs like a pro, and is raising four adorable babies right now. She’s actually the speckled hen from the pictures in this post.

Once those first few chicks have hatched, and mama seems to know what to do, things are likely to be smooth sailing. But especially with first-time mothers, I still like to keep a close eye throughout hatch day, so I can help to navigate any hiccups if at all possible.

7. Once the chicks are hatched, create a good brooding area for mama and babies

I generally let my broody hens stay in their nest until all of the chicks are dry, fluffy, and looking strong, and they’ve had a day or so to really bond with mama. Before the chicks start getting too adventurous, though, I transition mama and babies to their own brooding area on the floor of the barn.

I set up an area that’s roughly 3′ x 5′, so they have room to start learning about eating, drinking, and scratching around – without having to deal with other grown up chickens yet. I know I said my hens seem to get depressed or anxious when kept separate from the rest of the flock, but once their babies are here, they seem grateful for the safe space and special treatment.

At one end of the brooding area, I set up a chick feeder filled with chick starter, and a chick waterer. Then I let the mamas take care of teaching their chicks to eat and drink, when they’re ready. Watching how each mama handles those first few days of motherhood is always so fascinating to me. I had a mother hen this year that would take beak-fuls of the chick starter, and scatter it on the floor of the brooding area, scratching it all around. She would then put on a very exaggerated demonstration – scratching, pecking and clucking to her chicks. It was like she was trying to teach them “THIS is how we find food – not in some silly plastic feeder!”

I let the mother hen’s behavior let me know when to remove a wall of the brooder, giving her and her babies free run of the barn. Some mama hens seem very content for even 10 days or so in the smaller space, while others are looking for a way out by about day 4. I try to honor their instincts, and so far that has worked very well every time.

There really are few barnyard joys that rival the sight of a mother hen with a batch of chicks following closely behind. I hope you (and your broody hens!) have great success, and that you end up with lots of adorable fluffballs in your own coop!

Reader Interactions

JOIN THE MAILING LIST!

Comments

Hi Anna! Thanks for your help. I have a broody hen who is about to hatch her (and my) first clutch. A few questions….
I have a newborn and we were out of town for a few days so we didn’t plan to have her sit on eggs, they aren’t all in the same stage of development…will she sit on them til they all hatch? Tips if she does not? I don’t have an incubator.

A good number of the eggs are now completely dark when I candle them…I’m assuming these ones will probably hatch in the next day or two, but some seem to only be around 14-17days or so.

When you say they hatched on their own…how would I know if one needed assistance and what would I do??

I feel like I had many more questions but now I can’t remember. Thank you again

Hi Alex! First off, congrats on your new baby – those days are so precious and SO full, I remember well! As far as preparing for your little fluff babies…in my experience, when a hen is sitting on eggs at several stages of development, she generally will continue sitting for about 48 hours after the first chicks hatch. After that, the little ones tend to get restless and her instinct to parent the chicks seems to overpower the instinct to sit with any remaining eggs. My broody hens have generally abandoned any eggs not hatched within about a 48 hour window. The last time this happened, there was just one remaining egg that was a bit behind the others, and I was able to foster him onto another broody hen that I hadn’t yet allowed to keep a nest of eggs. She was delighted with her one baby and it all worked out.

At any rate, here are some possible solutions that come to my mind –

If someone has an incubator you can borrow, having one handy for any abandoned eggs may give you some peace of mind. If you have a local facebook farming group, people usually LOVE helping in situations like this, and are often more than glad to lend an incubator.

If you have another hen trying to go broody, you could put some dummy eggs under her to help keep her broody, then give her any eggs that may be abandoned after the first chicks hatch.

If you know of anyone nearby with a broody hen, you could let them know your situation, and they may be happy to let a hen finish incubating any abandoned eggs.

If worst comes to worst, you could even try placing any abandoned eggs in a small cooler with hot water bottles and a thermometer. Just try to keep it as close to 100 degrees as possible without going over. By the last few days of incubation, chicks are actually starting to generate their own heat, and it’s amazing how resilient they can be. I would give them any chance you can, knowing that you’ve done your best (especially with a newborn!) and that your care has certainly helped as many chicks make it to hatch as possible.

As far as chicks needing help hatching, it’s much less rare with naturally-hatched chicks than incubated ones, so hopefully is not something you’ll run into. Id just check twice daily as the chicks are hatching, trying not to rile mama hen too much. If you notice that an egg has been pipped without making any progress for a full day, it may need a bit of help. This post from Cackle hatchery has some really good pointers on helping a chick hatch if necessary.

Sorry for the very long winded reply! I hope some of this helps a bit, and if you think of more questions, don’t hesitate to ask! Best of luck to you all, I’m cheering you on from over here!

Thanks for this information! My silkie is broody, my question is, can I just give her the eggs I’d like hatched? Do they have to be laid within 24 hours of being laid? How long are the fertilized eggs viable once they are laid, before they are under my broody hen? (I hope this all makes sense.)

Hi Julie, totally makes sense! You can absolutely give her the eggs you’d like hatched. Eggs have good viability for about a week after they’re laid – you’ll want to collect the eggs you’d like hatched and store them carefully (this post will help!). What I would do is giver her a few dummy eggs to keep her broody while you are collecting the ones you want hatched, and then when you have enough, just swap out the dummy eggs for the real eggs. I’ve never a broody hen blink an eye at me swapping out eggs – as long as they still have eggs to sit on, they don’t seem to mind the change a bit. Hope this helps, and best of luck to you and your little silkie mama!

I have 3 hens and 1 rooster (by mistake)
Do you need to separate the rooster out during any of this process? He seems to be protecting her when I come in. I have one sitting and getting the idea. She sits all day on 7 eggs but is not sitting on them at night so I think they are no good. The other two hens are not laying now either. Do they all stop when you leave them for brooding?

Hi Lori! I don’t separate my roosters at any point – I find that they have always had a healthy respect for hens on their nests. And mama generally does an amazing job of keeping babies close and protected once they hatch. That said, if you see cause for concern, there’s no harm in separating him for a bit.

It sounds to me like your girl is still in the early stages of going broody. I’ve had a few girls do this…they’ll sit all day, then get off to roost at night. A week or two later, it all clicks, and they stay on the nest around the clock. You’re right that if the eggs are getting chilled at night, they’re probably not viable. If it were me, I’d get a few dummy eggs to put in there to encourage her to keep sitting, but not let her keep real eggs until she shows you she’s serious enough to stay on the nest at night.

As far as other girls not laying, in my experience having one or two broody hens doesn’t diminish laying in the others – in fact, my broodies will often let their sisters hop on the nest with them to add an egg to the clutch. I check the nests of my broodies daily to make sure I’m removing any newly-laid eggs. My guess is that your other girls may be getting ready to molt, if they’ve been laying for quite a few months. I often find that my hens seem to go broody shortly before molting season, so it could be just catching up with them a bit early. Based on the time of year, and if they have access to a good diet, that would be my guess. Hope this helps a bit! Best of luck with your girls!

Hi Kristyn! In my experience, once my girls go broody, it takes either motherhood or LOTS of getting taken off the nest to break their broodiness. If it were me, I would try to give her a few dummy eggs to keep under her, to encourage her to keep sitting until your shipped eggs arrive. Every girl is different, but I’d bet that if she’s been sitting for several days, and has a peaceful location, she’ll probably still be broody when “her babies” arrive! Best of luck to you and your hen – wishing you lots of healthy little fluff balls!!

YAY! Cheering you guys on! And I totally do the same thing with my broody girls – everyone gets a name tag on their nest when they’re sitting so nobody accidentally steals her eggs. Can’t wait to hear how things go for you!

glad you are raising icelantics Anna. With over 800 icelantic’s on the Family Farms it is fascinating to watch all the chicks running around with the Broody hen mobile primarily we incubate to keep our hands laying as long as possible read article it clear and precise